1. Field of the Invention
The invention, in general, relates to a novel delamination apparatus and method, and to a laminate for use therewith, and, in particular, to an apparatus and a method of processing a thermal imaging medium, as well as to a novel laminar imaging material.
2. The State of the Art
The prior art is replete with apparatus and methods for separating layers of laminar film units, for instance, for the purpose of rendering a developed image visible. Such apparatus and methods are most commonly used in connection with so-called peel-apart film units and may utilize a blade of some kind insertable between two predetermined layers or sheets of a film unit fixed to the periphery of a rotating drum; vide, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,085.
In general, the prior art apparatus and methods may be characterized as providing a peeling action, i.e. removal of one layer from another. They would not, however, be suited for providing delamination as understood in the context of the present invention. Delamination, in the sense used herein, is to be understood as meaning a process of separating cover or support sheets from opposite surfaces of a vertically frangible layer each carrying different portions of the frangible layer with it as determined by the strength of an adhesive bond at any given point between the surfaces of the layer and the respective sheet. Vertical frangibility of the layer as used herein is intended to mean the ability of the layer to break in a direction normal to its surfaces but to exclude breaking of the layer between its surfaces.